Nonstop flight route between Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Madurai, India:

About this route:

A direct, nonstop flight between RAF Lakenheath (LKZ), Lakenheath, England, United Kingdom and Madurai Airport (IXM), Madurai, India would travel a Great Circle distance of 5,156 miles (or 8,298 kilometers).

A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between RAF Lakenheath and Madurai Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.

Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between RAF Lakenheath and Madurai Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!

Departure Airport Information:

Arrival Airport Information:

Facts about RAF Lakenheath (LKZ):

• The furthest airport from RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is Chatham Islands (CHT), which is located 11,827 miles (19,034 kilometers) away in Waitangi, Chatham Islands, New Zealand.
• The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the only USAF wing with both a number and a name.
• The closest airport to RAF Lakenheath (LKZ) is RAF Mildenhall (MHZ), which is located only 4 miles (7 kilometers) SW of LKZ.
• In April 1947, RAF Bomber Command returned to Lakenheath and had the runways repaired, resurfaced, and readied for operations by May 1948.
• In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall and used it as a decoy airfield.
• On 1 May 1951, Lakenheath was transferred from USAFE to SAC, and placed under the 3909th Air Base Group.
• The increasing tension of the Cold War lead to a re-evaluation of these deployments, and by 1953 SAC bombers began to move its heavy bomb groups further west, behind RAF fighter forces, to RAF Brize Norton, RAF Greenham Common, RAF Upper Heyford and RAF Fairford, while its shorter-range B-47 were sent to East Anglia.

Facts about Madurai Airport (IXM):

• The furthest airport from Madurai Airport (IXM) is Seymour Airport (GPS), which is located 11,407 miles (18,358 kilometers) away in Baltra Island, Galápagos Islands, Ecuador.
• Because of Madurai Airport's relatively low elevation of 446 feet, planes can take off or land at Madurai Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
• It was identified as one of 35 non-metro airports for modernization, and thus the new integrated terminal building was inaugurated on 12 September 2010.
• Madurai airfield was first used by the Royal Air Force in World War II in 1942.
• In order to boost exports from Madurai and its surrounding districts, the Department of Revenue under the Union Ministry of Finance has issued a notification dated 28 May 2013 permitting the airport to handle cargo.
• Considering the growing cargo potential in Madurai Airport, AAI has decided to modify old terminal into a full fledged cargo complex.
• Madurai Airport (IXM) currently has only 1 runway.
• The closest airport to Madurai Airport (IXM) is Tiruchirappalli International Airport (TRZ), which is located 77 miles (124 kilometers) NNE of IXM.
• AAI had asked around 610 acres of land in Madurai to take up runway extension work.